Holes by Louis Sachar

Bibliographic Information
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication year: 1998
ISBN: 978-0440414803

Reader’s Annotation
Stanley Yelnats IV, whose first name is his last name spelled backward, always seems to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. During a sentence at Camp Green Lake where criminal boys are sent to build character by digging holes, Stanley finds out that all his bad luck might be the fault of his “no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.”

Plot Summary
When Stanley gets hit in the head by a pair of sneakers falling from an overpass, he has no idea that they belong to a famous basketball player, or that they have been stolen from a charity auction. He is found in possession of the valuable donation and sentenced to serve his time at Camp Green Lake. Attendees of the “camp” spend their days digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep in order to build character and reflect on their crimes. Soon Stanley finds himself wrapped up in the camp warden’s scheme to find a treasure buried decades before by famous outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow. Together with his new friend Zero, Stanley has to investigate how his own family history fits into the history of Camp Green Lake, the town it used to be, and the truth that was buried along with Kate Barlow’s treasure.

Critical Evaluation
The most impressive aspect of Holes is the seamless transitions between several eras. Sachar draws a parallel from Elya Yelnats’ connection with Madame Zeroni in 19th century Latvia, to the old west town of Green Lake in 1888, to present-day Stanley and Zero’s adventure at Camp Green Lake. Characters in each era are three-dimensional, complete human beings with hopes, desires, and complicated backstories. For example, Kate Barlow’s legendary crime spree and suicide make sense after it is revealed that an angry mob murdered the love of her life. The realization that Stanley and Zero are the descendants of Elya and Madame Zeroni, and that they have finally broken the curse by performing the duties Elya shirked decades ago, dawns on the characters and the reader at the same time in a highly effective twist that makes the rest of the story riveting. Using these techniques, Sachar keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.

Author Information
I was born in East Meadow, New York on March 20, 1954 and lived there until third grade. My dad worked on the 78th floor of the Empire State Building, and maybe that somehow inspired Wayside School, who knows? When I was nine years old, we moved to Tustin California. At that time, there were orange groves all around, and the local kids would often divide up into teams and have orange fights. The "ammo" hung from the trees, although the best ones were the gushy, rotten ones on the ground. Now most of the orange trees are gone, replaced with fast food restaurants, and big box stores.

I enjoyed school and was a good student, but it wasn't until high school that I really became an avid reader. J.D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut were the authors who first inspired me. Some of my other favorite authors include E.L. Doctorow, Margaret Atwood, E.B White, Richard Price and Kazuo Ishiguro.

After high school, I attended Antioch College in Ohio. My father died during my first semester, and I returned to California to be near my mother. During that time, I had a short but surprisingly successful career as a Fuller Brush man. For those of you too young to know what that is, I went door-to-door selling cleaning products.

I returned to college, this time to the University of California at Berkeley where I majored in Economics. On campus one day, I saw the unlikely sight of an elementary school girl handing out flyers. I took one from her. It said: "Help. We need teachers aides at our school. Earn three units of credit." I thought it over and decided it was a pretty good deal. College credits, no homework, no term papers, no tests, all I had to do was help out in a second/third grade class at Hillside Elementary School.

Besides helping out in a classroom, I also became the Noontime Supervisor, or "Louis the Yard Teacher" as I was known to the kids. It became my favorite college class, and a life changing experience.

When I graduated 1n 1976 I decided to try to write a children's book, which eventually became Sideways Stories From Wayside School. All the kids at Wayside School were based on the kids I knew at Hillside.

It took me about nine months to write the book. I wrote in the evenings. In the daytime I had a job at a sweater warehouse in Connecticut. After about a year, I was fired (my enthusiasm for sweaters was insufficient), and I decided to go to law school. Sideways Stories from Wayside School was accepted by a publisher during my first week at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

I finished law school, graduating in 1980, passed the bar exam (which was required to practice law) and then did part-time legal work as I continued to write children's books. It wasn't until 1989 that my books began selling well enough that I was finally able to stop practicing law and devote myself fully to writing.

My wife Carla was a counselor at an elementary school when I first met her. She was the inspiration for the counselor in There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom. We were married in 1985. Our daughter, Sherre, was born in 1987. We live in Austin, Texas along with our dog, Watson. Sherre now has a job as a zookeeper. Over the last five years, she has, at various times, taken care of tigers, lions, bears, great apes, giraffes, and a variety of smaller animals such as porcupines and sea otters.

I write every morning, usually for no more than two hours a day. I never talk about a book until it is finished. I spent two years on my latest novel, and nobody, not even Carla, Sherre or my editor knew anything about it until it was finished. Then they were the first to read it.

That book is Fuzzy Mud, although the original title was Frankengerms.

In my spare time, I like to play bridge. You can often find me at the bridge club in Austin, or at a bridge tournament somewhere around the country

Source: http://www.louissachar.com/about.html

Genre
Fiction
Historical Fiction
Humor
Mystery

Curriculum Ties
History

Booktalking Ideas
Begin by speaking briefly about coincidences, and how Stanley thought he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Read the passage toward the beginning with the family sitting around the dinner table cursing Stanley’s great-great-grandfather for all their bad luck. Interest the audience in whether their bad luck is due to the curse or merely coincidence. Then give a rating from 1-5 and tell the audience why this is my rating, and take questions.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Publisher’s Weekly: Age 10 and up

Challenging Issues
Murder
Racial Issues and Stereotypes
Violence

Preparing for Potential Challenges
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-potential-challenges.html
http://jeselynsminiyacollection.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-specific-challenges_6.html

Why the Item Was Chosen
I have included Holes in my young adult collection because its popularity has been steady since the book was published. Sachar’s work has long been regarded as a gem in both the children’s and young adult genres. Not to include especially his most popular works in a collection of young adult materials would be a massive oversight. This is another title that was made more popular after being made into a movie in 2003. Patrons who have seen and loved the movie might come to the library looking for the book. I also feel this novel is a worthwhile pick for young adults who may be unenthusiastic about reading. The short chapters, engaging storylines, and slightly lower reading level will attract reluctant readers from the first page.